Elena Rybakina on Friday said she showed glimpses of her best form during her dominant win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals at the BNP Paribas Open, adding that she feels she can beat anyone by maintaining that level.
The world No. 10 thrashed Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 to set up a clash with Aryna Sabalenka.
The Kazakh said that her aggressive style and booming serve made all the difference.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY
“Today I was pushing a lot. Overall, some players it’s more difficult to play against,” Wimbledon champion Rybakina said. “With Iga, she’s a tough opponent, but when I play like this and everything goes in... Today in some moments I played at my highest level. There are moments you feel: ‘OK, I can beat anyone if I always play like this.’”
“It’s the goal, but you never feel amazing and perfect every match,” she said. “I think today it was really good from me.”
Rybakina said she was reaping the rewards of the hard work she had done.
“I think I’ve been improving in these four years on tour. It’s just everything coming together — the experience, the team became bigger and I’m working a lot on fitness,” she said. “Just getting stronger a bit physically and just the work we did for the past four years. It’s showing now on the court and with my results.”
Rybakina is seeking to beat Sabalenka for the first time in their fifth meeting after losing to the Belarusian in the Australian Open final in January.
“It’s not going to be an easy match,” Rybakina said. “It’s going to be in these clutch moments that I need to play better. Hopefully now it’s going to change the score between us.”
Sabalenka defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting lost her bronze medal at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after she failed to meet eligibility criteria, the governing body of amateur boxing said yesterday. The IBA did not elaborate on Lin’s disqualification. Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova Staneva, who lost to Lin in the under-57kg quarter-finals, was awarded the bronze medal. Algeria’s Imane Khelif was also disqualified hours before her gold medal bout. The 23-year-old was scheduled to meet Yang Liu in the 66kg division final, but Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, who lost to Khelif in the semi-finals, would fight the Chinese instead. “A boxer from Algeria
Retired Formula One champion Nelson Piquet has been ordered by a Brazilian court to pay more than US$950,000 in “moral damages” for making racist and homophobic comments about Lewis Hamilton. The 70-year-old Brazilian had referred to seven-time champion Hamilton as “neguinho,” a racially offensive term that means “little black guy,” in 2021. In another interview, Piquet used racist and homophobic language. The court in Brasilia on Friday ordered Piquet to pay 5 million (US$952,998) reals “in collective moral damages, to be allocated to funds for the promotion of racial equality and against discrimination of the LGBTQIA+ community.” The charges were filed by several
Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani is to make a one-season MLB record US$65 million this year in salary and endorsements, Forbes magazine reported on Tuesday. Ohtani, set to be the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels in their MLB season opener today against Oakland, helped spark Japan to the World Baseball Classic title a week ago with a victory over the US in the final. The 28-year-old who serves as an outfielder and designated hitter when not on the mound, signed a one-year contract extension worth US$30 million last year and will make US$35 million in endorsements this year, Forbes reported. That
ISRAEL PROTESTS: Disappointed soccer fans said that the loss of the under-20 event would affect young players and lamented the blind mixing of political issues Indonesian fans reacted with anger and dismay yesterday after the nation on Wednesday was stripped of hosting rights for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup only eight weeks before the start of the tournament amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation. FIFA said that Indonesia was removed from staging the 24-team tournament scheduled to start on May 20 “due to the current circumstances,” without specifying details. The decision followed a meeting in Doha between Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Israel qualified in June last year for their first Under-20 World Cup, but the country’s participation in the official draw
RSS